Do you want to pick the best grain mill and are overwhelmed with the choices? Come learn the differences between the Mockmill vs. the NutriMill for the best small flour mill for home use.
Ready to mill your own flour at home? If you are ready to make fresh milled sourdough bread, whole wheat pizza dough, and freshly milled cinnamon rolls, the first thing you’ll need is a grain mill.
Choosing the right grain mill can feel like a daunting task. I’ve put together the pros and cons of the more popular electric mills, the Mockmill and the NutriMill classic.
Once you choose your mill, make sure you check out my post on where to buy wheat berries.
Benefits Of Milling Your Own Flour
Nutrition Benefits – Store-bought flour has the wheat germ and bran removed, which takes out the beneficial nutrients. Fresh flour is packed full of vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, and is easier to digest.
Grains Last A Long Time – Grains in their whole form are very shelf stable. When stored properly, wheat berries can last up to 30+ years.
Preparedness – If you want to build a more sustainable and well prepared food supply, having a family grain mill and storing wheat berries is a great place to begin.
Best Grain Mill: Mockmill vs. NutriMill
The Mockmill
Pro’s of the Mockmill
- Beautiful – This was the first reason I switched, which is a little vain. However, it really is beautiful and I can leave it out on the countertop, making it more convenient for everyday use.
- Smaller Profile – The slender profile of the Mockmill allows me to leave it out all the time without feeling pressed for countertop space.
- More Convenient – Since it doesn’t take up much space and has that small profile, I have no problem leaving it out on the counter all the time. This makes grinding flour so convenient, and I find myself using it so much more because of its ease of use.
- Stone Grinder – Stone mills grind grain between two stones which allows it to have more settings. You can make fine flour with the stones or use a coarser setting to crack grains or spices, so it has more versatility. The corundum-ceramic stone burrs are also self sharpening.
- Easier To Clean – To grind the flour, you just turn on the machine, add the grains, and it shoots the fresh milled flour right into a bowl. All you do is clean the bowl after use.
- Able to Re-mill Grains – Say you want to make homemade cornbread and you run the corn kernels through the grinder and find that the flour is a coarser flour than what you need. With the Mockmill, you can re-mill the grains at a finer setting, where you cannot re-mill coarse grains with the NutriMill classic.
Con’s of the Mockmill
- Smaller capacity – The hopper is smaller, so it holds a smaller amount of grain at a time compared to the NutriMill.
- Price Point – It is definitely pricier. If you are wanting the best electric grain mill and price is of concern, I would go with the Mockmill 100 in the white housing. It’s not as pretty as the birch wood, but it will get the job done. I find all the of benefits of the Mockmill worth the extra cost, as it is something I use consistently.
- Turn On The Grain Mill First – This isn’t a big deal, but you do have to turn the grain mill on before adding the grain. If you add the grain first and then turn it on, it will not work and you will have to take the whole thing apart and put it back together.
The NutriMill
Pro’s of the NutriMill
- Large Capacity – I can easily fill the top portion up with grain and turn on the NutriMill, walk away, and come back with the large bowl filled with flour. Whereas the Mockmill has a small funnel that holds grain, so it can’t make quite as much at a time. But as long as you have a large bowl, you can still make a lot of flour.
- Price – You can find the Nutrimill classic for a more affordable price.
Con’s of the NutriMill
- Larger Profile – It is much bulkier in stature and takes up more space. Not only did I not want to leave it on the counter because of its looks and its size, but it also took up a lot of room in the cabinet.
- Not As Convenient – Since it isn’t as pretty, I kept it stored away in the bottom cabinet. Every time I wanted to grind flour, it had to be lugged out to grind. Even though this process isn’t super cumbersome, it did prevent me from grinding flour more often.
- Impact Mill – While this isn’t technically a con, it does limit its versatility. An impact mill essentially grinds the grain between two stainless steel fins that crack it into flour. The Nutrimill does heat up the grain more due to this type of grinder, but the studies have shown it heats it up less than 120 degrees, so it doesn’t impact the nutrients much.
- Harder To Clean – Since the Nutrimill has a bowl with a lid, you have to pull it out, detach it, then clean the separate parts. I didn’t wash it super often, but it is much harder to clean compared to the Mockmill.
- Produces More Dust Than The Mockmill – It tends to be more dusty compared to the Mockmill. Also if you do not make certain that the bowl is completely pushed in, you will have flour everywhere.
NutriMill Harvest
There have been newer NutriMill grain mills that have come out in more recent years. The NutriMill Harvest is a stone mill that has a look similar to the Mockmill, but is more budget friendly. While it may not be as efficient, it is a great option if you want an aesthetic and capable mill for baking.
FAQs
Yes. It can be significantly cheaper to mill your own flour, especially when buying in bulk. It is also less expensive depending on the type of flour. Being able to store whole grains for longer without them spoiling is also very cost effective.
There are many choices out there; I absolutely love and adore the Mockmill.
You can technically make flour if you have a high speed blender like a Vitamix. Check out my post on how to mill your own flour for more information on the ways you can mill flour.
The Mockmill 200 can mill grain twice as fast as the 100 model, and the 200 also has a slightly larger hopper capacity.
It can mill food-grade corn (not popcorn), wheat berries, rye, barley, oats, medium dried legumes, spelt, kamut, einkorn, brown rice, millet, quinoa, and some spices (must not be oily).
I am new to the home grinding and I have not figured out how to get my breads lighter.. they seem heavy and dense with my own milled flour. I have a nutrimill and I love it, it grinds really fine and fluffy but my bread is so heavy. Can you advise 😊
-Jenna from Florida
Maybe not enough time left to rise. Isn’t it the air that adds fluffiness.
It sounds like your hydration might be off. I read somewhere that fresher flours tend to soak up more water.
You need to knead your fresh milled flour bread dough longer than regular flour. Also you want your dough to be slightly more sticky than regular bread for a fluffier loaf. I also do a pre-ferment of half the flour, a little yeast and a bit of honey and all the water in the recipe (stir all that together and cover and let sit for 1 hour), then add the rest of the flour and ingredients, knead for 5 minutes, let rest covered for about 20 minutes, then knead again for 12 minutes. I also add sunflower lecithin (1 tbsp.) to my dough with the rest of the ingredients and that helps it be softer as well. While this method of mixing the dough seems more complicated, it makes a perfectly soft, high rising, fluffy loaf of bread every time.
Hello Lisa, I want to buy a mill and I noticed that Nutrimill now has a very similar mill as the Mockmill that you have. It is made of bamboo and has stone grinders, and is also takes up less space on the counter. The main difference is the price, Nutrimill is about $220 less. It does have a 7 year less warranty than Mockmill, so that is a little concerning. Can you offer some advice, please. Thank you
I just learned about this today from a post a friend shared on Facebook an hour ago! Then I started researching and found this post. I am excited to learn more about preparedness and sustainability especially in our current time in the US.
Great review, thank you. Do you still have your mockmill discount code? Thank you.
Hi there!
I am so close to ordering a Mockmill and hope to do so soon as they are already backordered. However, we are gluten free for having a child with Celiac. We use many grains, one main flour is brown rice. Mockmill site and several people say it can handle brown rice. But a Movkmill rep said a stone mill is not recommended for brown rice. All I can think is because it has a somewhat higher oil content? Have you tried grinding brown rice and if so, have you had any issues? I may still go with it for all the other grains.
Thanks for any info you have!
Great comparison Lisa. I recently bought the Gorgeous Mockmill 200 & I Love it. Do you set it and forget it or do you mill at different settings? If you had to set & forget what numbered setting would you choose? Thank You!
Where do you get your grains for milling ?
Hi Lisa – what do you use to store your grains? Lots of mixed reviews on various storage containers. Thank you!!
Hi! Love this review. Do you still have your mockmill discount code? Thank you!
Hi! Yes, the coupon will be automatically applied when you click on the Mockmill link from my site. You’ll see the discount at checkout.
It is not a big deal but when I try to check out with Mockmill, I am not getting your discount. I just thought you would want to know. With Mothers Day coming up I am thinking of asking for one. I like the beautiful Mockmill, since mine would definitely have to sit out.(Not enough cupboard space)
I really enjoy your blog and am just getting into sourdough. We are loving Einkorn flour. Take care!
Did you attempt to checkout? I only ever see it when I get to the part when entering payment. You should see 5% deducted there.
Hi Lisa, yes same with me I went all the way through and ordered but no discount was applied!
I almost bought a few weeks ago and the discount applied, just went in to purchase and now it’s now.
Maybe try refreshing, and go to the mockmill site with this link: https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/mockmill, then add what you want to your cart. It should automatically apply it. I usually have to view the cart to see the discount applied. Let me know if you still have issues!
First, I want to say that you are the reason that I finally took the plunge and bought a grain mill AND finally started in with sourdough. I am LOVING it and would not have had the confidence to try if I hadn’t found your blog and podcast. ☺️ So for that, THANK YOU!!!! Baking with fresh flour and sourdough has become my new addiction and it’s awesome.
The grain mill I settled on was the Nutrimill Harvest. I think it compares very closely to the Mockmill. It is GORGEOUS and I keep it on my countertop as well. And it was reasonably priced as well at $345 so I feel really good about it.
Anyway, I’ve been following you for a few months now but this is my first time commenting and mostly I just wanted to say thank you because I have been totally nerding out about grain mills and grains and sourdough and all the things, so this post reached my affections. ☺️